


Blue and the Reporter

by TiredDork



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, F/F, First fallout fic and this took me weeks to finally finish, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Relationship, but it’s here for your viewing pleasure, but minor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-07-10 04:58:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15942257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiredDork/pseuds/TiredDork
Summary: Piper and Nora have adventures in the commonwealth. Shenanigans happen.





	1. Jacket Weather

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I wrote this fic because A)I really like Piper and B) I wanted to get a better handle on my sole. Yeah I changed some things like she had a wife and other stuff. The names the same as the original but what are you gonna do, names are tough. I am kinda proud of this fic and i hope y’all like it this first fic. I do want to write more so let’s see where this goes. Enjoy these two dorky losers.

Piper didn’t expect much when she first met Blue. ‘Twas just another vaulty visiting the city with the wide eyed innocence of a child and the survival skills of a radroach. Did she expect to learn that this lady was over 200 years old, boxed up and thawed only to be kicked into the unforgiving commonwealth? No but hell when has the world ever given Piper a normal person to be around. This “Woman out of time” was nothing Piper expected at all. She walked into Diamond City with a smile on her face and polite greeting to everyone she passed by. She gave away a Nuka, offered to help paint the wall, and even helped to find Nick all without begging for more caps. All out of the kindness of her heart. Once Piper asked for a interview she knew she wanted to go with her. A chance to explore the commonwealth with such a interesting partner only comes so often. She really didn’t expect this to have happen though.

  
“Blue remind me again why we’re here?”

  
Nora turned to the reporter, wide smile on her face as she excitedly said “Come on Pipes! Imagine the stuff we can scrounge up from here!”

  
Here in question being a shopping center in the corner of Boston. Nora was no longer decked out in the vault suit and instead had on her knit cap and outfit she took from a gunner camp (“You know for complete jerks at least their clothes are cool” “Well I can kinda agree with that Blue”). She had gone through the multiple stores, picking up scraps and more toys for Dogmeat. The clothing store she and Piper were in now was cold and gloomy, the only light being Nora’s pipboy. Piper was antsy to get on a move on, her face flushed from the oddly frigid air.

  
“You did promise that’ll we look over at that book store? You haven’t forgotten right Blue?”

  
“Patience is a virtue dear Piper,” Nora said from the storage closet, clicking her tongue. As Piper was gonna retort but she bit it down when she noticed the slight shiver in Nora’s body.

  
“You cold there Blue?”

  
Nora stopped searching through the shelves and proceeded to turn further away from the reporter. “I’m fine Piper, probably still sugared up from the Quantum I drank earlier.”

  
Piper was skeptical at that answer proceeding to go closer to the door moving a brick out from the doorway.

“Okay if you’re sure… do you wanna head out now and get some fresh-” SLAM! The heavy closet door shuts completely leaving both women staring at it.

  
“...that block was holding the door open…”, Nora softly says. Piper immediately goes to the door, taking a Bobby pin out in a rush.  
“Shoot sorry there, don’t worry we can just pick this lock and head on out,” she trails off as she sees Nora stare into space.

  
“Blue?”

  
She springs back into action, taking out a box of pins with her slightly shaking hands. “Yeah, totally don’t worry I-I’ll get the door, no problem.” Nora starts to pick the lock ignoring the reporter in the process.

  
Piper tries to get the woman’s attention, hand gently reaching out. “Blue I got it don’t worry-” The moment her hand came into contact the woman flinch out of the touch, Piper retracting her hand to try and calm down her friend.

  
“Sorry there, I won’t touch you okay?Just, what’s wrong Blue.”

  
Nora’s breathing becomes faster, her panic coming through in her voice, “I just need to focus so we can get out of here Piper, we need to get out of here.” One more twist of the pin and SNAP! Nora drops the pin and tries to grab another one from the box, her shaking hands making it impossible to pick up. “Damnit! I got this we’ll get out of here just...”  
As her friend tries to pick the lock, Piper is racking her brain to try and think of what brought this all up. She thinks of the what she knows about the woman, her story. Piper takes a gulp of air, her breath visible with the chill in the room. Once she sees that, all the clues fall right into place

  
“Nora… you aren’t there anymore.”

  
The pin and screwdriver drop from Nora’s hands, her head down as to look away from the reporter.

  
“...what are you talking about?”

  
Piper takes a sit right next to the woman, close enough to feel her heat. She keeps her hands to herself even though she all she wants to do is hold Nora in a warm hug.

  
“Tight cramp space and air that feels like we’re in winter? I can take a educated guess and say you are reminded about the Vault. I’m not gonna run my mouth and say that I know what it’s like because I don’t. What you went through was horrible, but,” Piper slowly brings her arm around Nora’s shoulder, waiting for a signal if it’s okay. Nora leans into the touch, with Piper tightening her hold. She turns to look at the woman and whispers, “You’ll never have to go through that again if I have anything to say about it.”  
Nora stares at the pins in her hand, in deep thought. The silence last an uncomfortable amount of until Piper takes her arm away and rubs her neck, stammering out, “I-I’m sorry if I’m prying to much, I shouldn’t have presumed-“

  
“You remember what I told Nick about what happened in vault?” says Nora softly. Piper nods her head remembering the first time she saw the glum side of her usually positive friend.

  
“When I woke up the first time, I couldn’t move anything but my arms. It was like every bone in my body was made of lead. The bastards took my baby boy and killed Nicole while all I did was try and punch the door. It was so freezing there, I couldn’t feel anything. I’ve never felt so numb, so damn paralyzed in my damn life. Heh… I still feel like all this is all a dream and that I’m still a popsicle. I didn’t think that I would be reminded of it again but here I am. Lying on the floor probably looking like a complete mess. Sorry that your travel partner can’t even be in a damn clothing store without panicking.”

  
Piper has never seen Nora with such pain in voice, her grey eyes hazy with tears. She took the woman’s chin and held it so they had some sort of eye contact. Nora’s eyes trying to avoid seeing whatever the reporter thought of her sob story. Then she spoke up.

  
“You know I don’t take kindly to insults of my partner.”

  
Nora’s eye blink in shock, as she now finally looks at the reporter not seeing pity or annoyance. She saw respect and care in her green eyes. Something she just couldn’t believe.

  
“But it’s true-“

  
“It isn’t. Nora, no one expects you to be 100% all the time. That fact that you have worked so damn hard to find your son is an inspiration. Right now I don’t see a mess, I see someone in need of a friend’s shoulder to cry on. I’m here for you Blue, you’re… one of the best damn people I’ve met so far. The last thing I would want is for you feel alone. Now come on, let me pick the lock while you take some deep breaths.”

  
Piper takes the screwdriver and a pin from the floor and starts to get to work at the lock, her tongue sticking out in concentration. Nora looks at the woman and give a watery smile. She leans her head on her shoulder and starts to take calming breaths.

  
“...Thank you.”  
————————————————————  
The pair walk through the aisles of ruined clothes like everything was peachy. Piper was up ahead, talking about how she got arrested once. Nora was right behind her, silent but with a slight smile on her face. As Piper continued her tale of Diamond City’s most annoying guards, her eyes catch something… blue?

  
She stops abruptly in her tracks with Nora bumping right into her back.

  
“Oh! Sorry Blue um, I’ll meet you at the bookstore I think I saw some clothes for Nat.”

  
Nora looked at her friend, puzzled about the sudden stop. She didn’t question it, the earnest look in the reporter’s eye convincing her to just go with it.

  
“Sure thing, yell if something happens.”

  
“It’ll be fast, just come back only if you hear gunshots,” laughed Piper as she ran towards her target.  
————————————————————  
Nora expected Piper would greatly expect her life when she first met her. The passion that she spoke with, her expressive eyes, and gosh she was pretty. When they first met she could barely get a sentence out,Nora being a ‘big gay mess’ as her wife called her once. But Piper was different than just some pretty girl who she’ll never think about again. She was smart, quick witted, and one of the nicest people Nora has ever met. Always about lending a hand to those in need. Nora always felt a weird fluttery feeling from head to toes when talking to Piper. The only other time she met someone who made her feel that way was Nicole, her first love. She felt so lost without her wife. The woman that helped her through so much was now dead and their son, the last part of both of them- kidnapped. Nora still decided gave it her all when she exited the vault in her quest. Her positivity was the biggest part in how she was able to get so far. Yet she knew the optimist mask she put over her broken face could only last so long before breaking. She knew the vault had a lasting impact on her but she didn’t expect getting stuck in a dinky cold closet would bring her back. She was half expecting for Piper to tell her to get over it and move on. She didn’t expect Piper to be so caring, so thoughtful. She didn’t expect to fall in-

  
“Um hey Blue?”

  
Snapping out of her rambling thoughts, Nora turned on heel to look at the reporter. Piper had on a bashful expression as she held out a bright blue winter jacket. While having some small holes here and there, the condition it was in was still impressive. The fur lining looking just as fluffy as when it was first made. She looked up from the jacket to see the other woman’s face, a rosy blush on her cheeks, as she starts to talk.

  
“Do you like it? When I saw it, I noticed how it matched the blue of the vault suit… it’s also super warm! I don’t know what kinda stuff they had back then but they knew how to make a good jacket alright… it’s okay if you don’t really like it, it is a big banged up, I-I’ll put it back over there-”

  
Nora goes to the rambling mess of a reporter and takes the jacket from her, hands lightly brushing against each other. She puts down her combat rifle and bag, proceeding to put it on.

  
“You’re right, it is warm!” she giggles as she looks down at herself. She does a little twirl and gives the woman a blinding grin.

“So how do I look?”

  
Piper starts to blush even more, but smiles brightly at her friend.

  
“Looking great, Blue”


	2. Bad Habits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora’s a huge workaholic as we learn and is also a soft gay mess.

Being in law school was great for the most part. Nora has always grown up wanting to help people, as she read story after story about cape crusaders saving the day. Being a vigilante like the Silver Shroud was out of the question, so the next legal solution was becoming a public defender. Day and night she studied to get into the best law school the commonwealth could offer… all at the price of course.

  
“Oi Robins, you dead or something?”  
“Huh?”

Nora is startled out of her slumber, trying to remember where she even is. Glancing around she see she’s still in the mechanics office, paperwork in a large stack next to her head. She looks up to see the amused look of her colleague- Nicole.

“Oh s-sorry! I was just uhh um…”

Nora could feel the blush rise on her face, trying to look anywhere but the short haired woman. A laugh snaps her out of her sleepy panic.

“You know, if you wanted to nap there’s a perfectly working couch right over there,” laughs the other woman, mirth in her eyes.

“I wasn’t trying to sleep! I just was writing a paper last night and lost track of time so now I guess I’m trying to catch up. I’m sorry-“

Nicole put her hands up to stop the rambling mess of a student. “You’re fine Robins, I totally get it.”  
She takes a look at the clock on the wall giving Nora a better look at her profile. Tan skin, short scruffy hair, a jawline that could cut glass, and all this adds up to Nora being a complete mess around her. But how can she not be? Nicole is one of the prettiest-  
“..home.”  
“Wait what?”

Nora snaps out of her daydream at that, realizing she was too busy thinking about the woman to listen to her. Nicole chuckles at her distracted friend.

“I said that it’s late, you shouldn’t really take the bus so how about I drive you home.”

“Oh-uh I wouldn’t want to be a bother-“

“Come now! We can, uh, even stop for some food if you want,” she mumbles out, a slight blush on her cheeks. Though it wasn’t as red as Nora’s. She stood up, head down at her feet, deciding her answer. Taking a deep breath she squeaks out, “That’s sounds really lovely…”

  
They both share a shy glance.

  
“Well shall we get going?”  
————————————————  
Having a hard case like this always ate at Nora. Every morning and every night she thought about what to do to successfully represent her client. There’s been painful cases were a clear innocence was fucked over by the screwed up court system. But Nora didn’t blame that, she blamed herself. That she wasn’t quick enough, wasn’t smart enough, wasn’t good enough-

“Hun?”

Nora turns around from her pile of folders to look over at her groggy wife , rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She smiles gently at Nicole.  
“Sorry babe, I was just working on this case. I didn’t wake you up did I?”

Nicole gets closer to her wife, wrapping her arms around the shorter woman and laying her head on hers.

“You didn’t, though it’s rather cold without you in bed…”

Nora giggles at that, a slight blush on her cheeks at her wife’s adorableness. She still couldn’t believe that she was that lucky. Her car mechanic girlfriend now power armor mechanic wife is back from some time in Canada. The women has been through a lot, having to deal with frontline battles at times to repair armors for soldiers. They both don’t know how long this break would last but they still try to be themselves near each other. To forget about the struggles they have and just enjoy the moment. Though Nora was hoping to be done sooner she knows she has a ways to go before she can relax in bed.

“I’ll be done soon, I mean it’s only been an hour since I started-“

“Honey it’s been more than 3 hours since you started,” Nicole said, eyebrows up in amusement.

  
“Wait what?”

Nora turns on her terminal, ugly green light showing the time.

“There’s no way it’s 3 in the morning!”

“Uh yes way? Seriously babe you should go to sleep.”

“But I have to finish this, I’m so close and-“

“And you can barely stay awake right now. Last thing you need is to go to work tomorrow and drool at your desk. Just put the papers down and try to rest, work with a clear mind tomorrow. You got this case in the bag Nora, I promise you that.”

She’s looks at her files, pictures and documents scattered about the table. Even with her contacts she can barely pay attention to the words. Each letter of each sentence blurs into a mess of ink and drowsiness. She lets out a yawn and turns to her spouse.

“I could use the sleep I guess…” she mumbles out as she tries to get up from her chair. Hands under her legs stop her as she’s picked up in her lover’s arms.

“Finally I could use some of those patented Robins cuddles I love so much.”

Used to the silliness of Nicole, Nora just lays her head in the crook of her neck, mumbling out, “I don’t mind giving some of you get me to bed fast enough.”  
“As you say my lady.”  
————————————————  
That was all 200 year in the past. Getting put in a freezer while the world outside blows up, Nora now is traveling this harsh new commonwealth without her past companion. It still hurts but the pain is dwindling as she accepts what transpired. Nicole was dead and now Nora must continue on to live without her. She had to change and adapt to this new environment. Though some things take a while to die off.

  
“Heeey Bluuueee? Wakey wakey come on.”  
“Huh?!”

Nora bolts up the the raggedy couch, trying to see the danger. All she does see is stars as her head bangs into the voice she heard.

“OW! God damn Blue!”

Nora takes a minute to pull herself together, before realizing what happened as she looks over to see her reporter friend holding her head, hat fallen on the ground.

“Shoot Piper I’m so so so sorry I-i thought something was wrong so I tried to get up fast I didn’t-“

Piper puts her hand up to stop her rambling mess of a friend, grabbing her hat and looking at the woman ,saying, “It’s fine Blue just was curious to see if you were actually asleep for that long or dead.”

  
“What do you mean Pipes?”

Scoffing she picks up Nora’s pipboy and shows her the time, “ Blue you been sleeping for 5 hours.”  
Eyes widened, she looks up to the reporter’s deadpanned expression and to the purple text of the pip boy reading 5:30 pm.

  
“G-golly didn’t realize I was that tired…”

  
“Blue did you even sleep at night?”

  
Nora hears the concern in her crush friend’s tone. Yet she puts on a dimpled smile, trying to subvert the worry.

  
“Piper don’t worry! I was just working on the settlement last night ya know? Building defense and getting supplies ya know? I just uhh lost track of time…?”  
Piper leans down to look at Nora, the bags under her eyes noticeable with some redness here and there too. Sighing she sits down next to the blue wearing wanderer and starts to speak.

  
“Nora you can’t keep doing that, we have enough people as it is to help out you don’t have to stay up the whole night. It’s just not healthy or safe. You can’t getting into a fight with a super mutant if you’re half asleep.”

  
Nora stares into those green eyes, seeing such care in them it made her ache. Then a thought popped into her head.

“Wait isn’t this just the pot calling the kettle black?”

  
“Uh what do you mean Blue?”

  
“Pipes you barely sleep at all! You stay up sometimes just to write in your notebook… you even wake up in the middle of night to write ideas down.”

  
“I uhhh umm … you’re not wrong but come on if I have idea and don’t write it down I’ll forget!” Piper blurts out, pouting slightly at this turn of events.

  
Nora lets out a little laugh at Pipers dorkiness, smiling without a care in the world. She takes a breath and continues on.

  
“I’m not saying I don’t have a problem, I’m a workaholic I know. But so are you! So how about this I’ll work on my sleeping schedule while you work on yours. Do we have a deal?”

Piper takes a look at the outstretched hand and the beaming smile from Nora. She lets out a chuckle, shaking her head at the silliness of her Blue.

“Robins you drive a hard bargain but I guess we have a deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finish this second chapter, which I hope y’all like. Doesn’t have a lot of piper but enough to enjoy and we get to see Nicole for a bit. The more I write for Nora the more soft I am for her. And I’m gonna write another chapter soon with a certain good boy.


	3. A Wanderer’s Best Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nora didn’t expect to have the worlds greatest puppy wingman when she met dogmeat. Let’s say she has a lot to thank him for.

Nora didn’t have time to process anything. Waking up to being frozen to waking up all over again only felt like 40 minutes, not 210 years. The home she wanted to live in with Shaun and Nicole, all disintegrated in a flash. The moment she walked into Codsworth, the robot rattling with pure delite from seeing her, she pasted on her biggest and fakest smile. Reasonably she should have started bawling right there, but there were no tears left. She looked him right in his metal eyes and tried to calm him down. With a blinding fake smile, dimples and all. She couldn’t give into her emotions yet, she knew Shaun was out there. She held her dead wife’s hand and made a promise, she won’t break it now just because her brain and heart wants her to feel nothing but pain. She has no time. No, now she was on the road to Concord, to try and find some kind of hint. Passing by the rusting car carcuses and ashen trees, she looks upon the destroyed Red Rocket as she sees a blur of… fur?

  
“Bark!!”

  
Nora looks upon bundle of fur in question, who immediately sits down in front of her. A dog! But not mutated to levels only imaginable in movies but a German Shepard! She bends down to their level and gentle brings her hand up. They bump their nose into her palm, wanting to be petted.

  
“Whatcha doing here buddy? Ya don’t have an owner?” She asked, her voice soft and gentle. The dog lets out a small whine and leans into her touch. Now she couldn’t just leave them here, can she?

  
“Okay bud, guess it’s you and me.”  
“Bark!!”

  
The dog jumps up to lick her face in joy, happy to have found a friend. Nora lets out a genuine smile, her mask off for a second of joy. That until she feels the ground rumbling beneath her. As the looks up, she see- giant rats?! Whatever they are she brings out her pistol with her dog pal growling at the creatures. At least she has a buddy to survive in this world with.  
——————————————  
Dogmeat is his name. Well she thinks so anyway, if what Mama Murphy said was true. She didn’t expect him to be such a good partner while she went around the Commonwealth for the Minutemen. Yet she was pleasantly surprised at how much aid he provided. Being able to give Nora a better chance at getting the perfect shot, finding medicine packs and other goodies, and he was just plain adorable to boot! To have a friend on her side like this, regardless if human or not, made Nora feel more comfortable in this strange new world. Though it doesn’t help when he wanders off on his own.

  
“DOOOOGGGMEAAAT!!! Where are you boy??!!” She yells out, giving a wolf whistle or two to see if it works but nothing.

  
She didn’t mean to lose track of him so easily, she just was easily distracted with trying to find some caps or bottles of Nuka Cola. Okay, maybe she should have payed more attention but now it’s too late. Now she’s looking like a lunatic, yelling ‘Dogmeat!’ in the ruins of Boston. She already had to deal with one of the horrible beast this new world had to offer (the scar on the right side of her face being a constant reminder), she didn’t need another one catching her off guard. While she stumbles through the broken sidewalk, she catches movement from the corner of her eye. Shaky hands grab hold of her pistol, trying to get a better look at the threat. She expects on of those raider fellows or the guys in the admittedly cool green clothing. She doesn’t expect… an umpire?

  
The umpire (?) turns to Nora, baseball bat ready in hand. His heavy Boston accent shines through as he orders out,

“Oi! Who’s out there? Show ya self!”

  
Nora comes out from the alley, hands still on her holster. She looks the man up and down, seeing the ruined state of the uniform. He hasn’t shot her yet so that just be a good sign at the very least.

  
“Not here for any trouble sir, just want to find my dog.”

  
The man lowers the bat but is clearly still on edge. He points to where she hopes is Dogmeat and says, “That mutt that past by was yours? Almost gave me a friggin’ heart attack. He sitting outside the gate.”

  
Nora quickly blurts out a thanks to the man and rushes to the direction given. She takes notices of all the signs with bright green lettering with a diamond at the top.

  
‘So this must be Diamond City… maybe this can help me find-!’

  
Nora’s thoughts were interrupted as she spots her target. Her pup was on his hind legs, his tail wagging slowly as he pays attention to the ruckus in front of him. While Nora would have made sure that Dogmeat knew not to disappear like that, she was distracted too by the sight. That being a leather trench coat wearing woman angrily yelling at the speaker. Dogmeat watched out of curiosity but Nora was sucked up in her thoughts again. This person- Piper, the man on the speaker called her, was affecting her in some which way. It was as though fate itself was preparing her for this moment without her own knowledge. Once Piper turned towards her, she was a goner. All because she lost track of her dog.  
———————————————  
While Nora would go on to say she found Diamond City from intuition instead of a bunch of happy accidents, all Piper knew was one day some vaulty with a dog showed up and now she’s on the road with them. She was certainly a strange one, this Nora. Always offering a smile every time she talked, even to the damn upper stand folks! This Beanie wearing softy was somehow doing such amazing things for the people in the commonwealth. Never asking for reward but because it was the right thing to do. Piper was half expected her to be an asshole but now… she kinda had a friend. A friend who’s dog keeps barking in her ear.

  
“Come on Dogmeat, let me snooze…” Piper groggily lets out, hand limply trying to push the dog away. All that does is make him whine louder, nose nuzzling into her palm. A lost cause to sleep it seems.

  
“Okay, okay I’m up… what’s wrong boy?”

  
Piper yawns and stretches out her arms as she gets a better sense of her surroundings. Both of the travelers where weary when they past by this raggedy house. It took Nora almost falling asleep standing up for them to actually settle down for the night… in one bed. The rest of the mattresses were too destroyed to sleep on, leaving the one king sized bed for them both. It wasn’t without a lot of blushing on both sides and a very confused pup, but they made it work. Now was to see what was needed of Piper so she can continue to sleep. Dogmeat races around to where Nora is sleeping, pawing to get up. Before Piper could say anything, she startled by a soft murmur.

  
“No… please no…don’t take him please… don’t hurt her...”

  
The reporter glances at the woman next to her, all bunched up in a shaking ball. Her face contorted in pain of whatever nightmare her brain thought up for her. Piper quickly gets into action and starts to gently shake Nora’s shoulders.

“Hey, wakey wakey Blue, it’s okay,” she repeats and whispers out in the sweetest voice she can muster. Slowly but surely tired grey eyes finally open up, noticing not just the reporter but also the dog trying to get up on the bed. She gradually sits up, hands reaching out to lift Dogmeat into her lap.

With downcast eyes and a croaking voice she says, “Sorry if I woke you…” as she focuses on the soft fur underneath her hand.

  
“Blue don’t even worry about that, are you feeling okay?”

  
Nora scoffs gently at that, looking away from the woman. “I’m fine really, just a dumb dream.”

  
Analyzing her friend’s distraught expression, Piper decides her best course of action. She leans over the bed to rummage through her trench coat. If she remembers correctly her goal is in the right inner pocket- bingo! She brings it up with her and shows it to Nora who looks at it curiously.

  
“Are those… gumdrops?”

  
Piper blushes slightly while she’s opens up the flaps of the candy. As she grabs one of the tiny morsels of sugar she starts to speak, nostalgia in her tone.

  
“When I was a kid, I would always get nightmares from the silliest things. Sometimes about embarrassing myself in front of others, others about some monster my mind made up. My mom, well uh, she was no help with it as she just told me to ‘grow a pair’ but my dad had a more creative approach. He would sit me in his lap and let me tell him about my dream. Then he would give me a gumdrop. Apparently these things make bad dreams too scared to show their face and I believed it. I know it’s stupid to think of it now but it always helped me, and uh… I thought maybe it could help? I mean you don’t have to talk about it and uh Sorryitsstupidilljust-huh!?“

  
Just as Piper rapidly mumbles out the last part, she gets a lap full of Blue. Nora wraps her arms tightly around her, gratitude flowing through her body. Dogmeat longingly stares at the pack of gumdrops while sad to lose his seat.

  
“Piper that’s just… so damn sweet I…” Nora starts to choke up, her emotions still reeling from the vivid dream. Piper rubs her hand up and down her back, giving her a sense of safety.

  
“Really it’s not a problem Blue, I mean we’re f-friend right?” She says with a slight crack in her voice. The thoughts ‘Oh dear, she’s gonna be the end of me’ ring through her head. Nora pulls back from the hug and gives Piper a genuine smile of hers, dimples and all.

  
“Yeah of course we’re friends, now I was promised some gumdrops to scare those nasty nightmares away right?”

  
“Slow down Blue, at least let me open it up more-,” right as she said that she feels Dogmeat getting closer and closer to the candy.

  
“Hey fella, you can’t eat these! Don’t need to have you poisoned tonight!”

  
As Piper tries to fight of all the attempts of jumping and puppy kisses, Nora can’t help but smile at the sight. She doesn’t know where all this will lead but she’s pretty happy right now with this ragtag group she has. The word family travels through her mind whether from the dream or from the show in front of her, she has no clue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got out of my writers block hole and finished this piece! I hope you all enjoy as I am going to write a more angsty chapter next.


	4. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper fights some thoughts from her past as well as some figures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you dive into this beast of a chapter, I want to warn that this will explore some light themes of child abuse. I saying this so that it is known and it is completely okay if this chapter ain't your cup of tea because of that.

She didn’t expect to be here again. To be in front of the rusting metal gates all over again, after she and Nat left those same gates seven years ago. Piper didn’t know how the hell she ended up back but she shouldn’t be surprised with her luck. When Nora told her about helping out a settlement near the end of the Commonwealth, even though she had a tiny feeling in her gut warning her, but she ignored it and agreed to go along. Now she looks over the shabby houses and militia post that made up her childhood, mind moving a mile a minute. As she sees Nora send her a worried look she shoots out a “I’m good Blue,” hoping to get a move on. Maybe it just a mole rat problem or they just need some good old minutemen fire power. She can stay invisible for a bit, maybe she could use that Stealth Boy Blue gave her or she can-

“Piper!? By golly is that you?!”

‘Well, shit,’ she thinks as she turns her head to look at the speaker. Well, try to look before she gets encased in a bear hug. As she is lifted of the ground, she gets a better look at the gray haired man. Nostalgia fills her head as she remembers her Father’s right hand man.

“Mr. Martin! Surprised to see you still standing.” mumbles out the reporter as she tries to get out of the arms squeezing the life out of her. Once she gets put down and adjust her center of gravity, her eyes fly over to her partner. Her puzzled expression would be really adorable to Piper, if she didn’t have some explaining to do.

“Blue, this is, uh, Pete Martin. He’s captain of the militia here. Here being… my old settlement.”

Nora’s eyebrows raise up as she stumbles towards Pete to give him a handshake. 

“It’s a pleasure to met you, sir. I’m the General of the Minuteman. I’m glad to see the Captain is a friend of my partner here,” she beamed, her classic Robin’s smile shining at the man. Pete grins and starts to ramble on about the Militia and what they need help with. Both Nora and Piper give each other a shared look, already planning a discussion for later. Little did they notice the smoking cloaked woman watching all this from afar.

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Hey… do you wanna talk about it now?”

“Huh?”

Piper snaps out of staring off into space and turns to her girlfriend. Since they talked to Pete they were told that they could rest up in the Wright’s family home. After that Piper has stayed silent, biting her lip in deep thought as she help Nora prepare their supplies. Does she wanna talk about it? She looks down to her hands, playing with them as she tries to process what to say. She takes a shaky breath and turns to look at Blue. “Ya know how, uh, how long it’s been since I’ve been here.”

Nora stops cleaning her gun and goes across the rickety bed. She sits next to the reporter, pinkies lightly touching. She tries to get eye contact with Piper as she says gently,  “I have an idea that it’s been a long time, but I’ve never been told just how long.” Piper takes the hint and grabs her hand, laying it down in lap as she tries to blurt out what she’s feeling.

“It’s been seven years since I left with Nat. I mean everyone treated us really well and we had this house and a little farm to live with. We easily could have stayed. I just... couldn’t. I wanted more for Nat than to live in a broken old house. She deserved better that at least. I couldn’t be our dad for her, but I could at least give her a chance to succeed.”

Nora leans in, eyes worried as she whispers, “But what about your chance?”

Piper lets out a small chuckle and wipes a tear from her cheek.

“Honestly, that was the last thing I was thinking about. I was just going with the flow at that point. I-i still wanted to help others but… I didn’t know if I could. I had 30 caps to my name and a baby sister to take care of. Yeah after having to deal with all the problems at Diamond City I finally took matters in my own hand, gave the people the truth and well now look at me. I’m a somewhat successful reporter, with a somewhat amazing life and yet just coming here makes me forget all that. I just, I don’t know what to even feel-I,” abruptly Piper lays her head in her hands, a light sobbing noise emitting from her. Nora takes Piper gently into her arms, kissing the top of her head while stroking her hair. 

“Sweetheart, you’re more than ‘somewhat successful’. You constantly try to help others, even when they act like jerks to you. You put yourself through a lot of danger just to give people the truth. I don’t even think I would have made it through the commonwealth and the Institute without you at my side. Don’t sell yourself short Piper Wright, you are incredible.” Now fully in Nora’s lap, Piper nuzzles her nose against her girlfriend’s neck as to calm herself down. It only takes a couple of minutes as she she leans up to be face to face with Nora. She lets out a watery laugh.

“Geez Doll, you really know how to make a girl feel special…”

Smiling, Nora gives a soft peck to Piper’s lips. “I try my best.”

As Piper leans forward for more kisses, an annoying, loud alarm blurts out of the Pipboy.

“Guess it time to head out…” Nora says apologetically. She turns off the alarm, Piper moving to the side to let her through. She grabs the reporter’s hand, “Do you wanna stay here and rest? I can handle helping them, it just you haven’t slept since yesterday morning coming here and with all the, uh,-” she hesitated as she felt her hand being squeezed gently. Piper stood up taking Nora with her as she looked down at their joined hands. “I think I’ll be fine resting here for a bit Blue. I kinda wanna just clear my thoughts before fighting for my life against some mole rats. When you come back… I wanna show you something,” she glances green eyes to grey as she roughly swallows. Taking one step closer, Nora takes a shallow breath as she asks, “What do you want me to see?”

“I’ll tell you when we get there, for now just promise you’ll be safe.”

Smiling widely, Nora raises up her other hand to cup Piper’s cheek. She laughs gently, “Come on you know me, of course I’ll be safe. I got you to come back to after all.” As Piper starts to blush and stutter, Nora softly kisses her. It could have been a second, a minute, hell maybe even a whole century. Once they stopped they couldn’t even tell. Leaning their foreheads together, as if they had all the time in the world.

“I love you, Piper Wright.”

“I love you too, Nora Robins.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Sleep did not come easy to Piper. After a few moments of peace between the two lovers, all came to a halt when the door was knocked. Watching her dork of a girlfriend scrambling to get all her stuff and leave, she kinda regretted not going with. But if the burning of her eyes and constant yawns told her anything is that she would fall asleep on the drop of a dime. If her brain would calm down that is. Sighing, Piper got up from the bed in her makeshift PJs (A big t-shirt and comfy sweatpants Nora found for her as one of her impromptu gifts). She goes over to the large cargo bag, trying to find through of Nora’s supplies and ‘junk’ (Which the blue jacket-clad lawyer will argue against such a name) a can of purified water. While digging around, a slight silver gleam catches her eyes. Right in front of her, a bookshelf lay with a ripped up mess of a book. She picked it up for a better look, seeing duct tape covering most of it as it’s the only thing keeping it together. Once Piper saw the title, memories flooded through her brain.

_ “Around the world in 72 days? What kinda bullshit is this?” _

_ “Give it back please!” _

_ Small hands try to reach up and grab the book, the only thing stopping her was the large hand pushing her away. A woman in a ratty flannel shirt continues to look over the book, her face molding into one of disgust. She pushes the little girl to the ground and takes the book in both hands. _

_ “You don’t need to waste your time on this damn shit! I told you to work on the garden an hour ago and what do you do?! Ignore me like the ungrateful brat you are!” _

_ Tears fell down the little girl’s freckled cheeks. “I did work on it! I promise you I did!” _

_ “It didn’t look any different, how do I know you aren’t lying?!” _

_ “I’m not! Please Mom just give it ba-” _

_ The two halves of the book fell down as the woman had ripped it. The girl tried to collect the ruined pages as she took shuddering breaths. She’s knocked into as the woman walks passed her towards the door. _

_ “I’m going out, when I get home I expect you in bed.” _

_ The little girl stuttered out, “Yes Mom.” She raced towards her room, trying everything that she could to put the book together. She fell asleep with the broken book in her tiny hands. It wasn’t till she woke up that she saw a fully fixed book and a note on top. _

 

_ Piper _

_ I noticed when I went to check up on you, you were using this screwed up book as a teddy bear. All it took was a little elbow grease and a loooooaaaad of tape to make it all brand new. When I get my break this weekend, I hope you tell me all about this book. Heck we can even read it together. _

_ Love, Dad _

 

Piper drops the book back on the shelve, her eyes burning with tears. She shakes her head, pushing the memories to the back of her mind. ‘Sleep’, she thinks, ‘I just gotta sleep all this away.’ She walks back to the room, the tape of the book glimmering in her eye.

______________________________________________________________________________

_ “Where do you think, you’re going?” _

_ A young face peaked out from the door frame. She’d never heard her dad, so… angry. He standing right in front of the door, right in front of her mom who’s at the door. She scoffed, “Why the fuck do you care?” _

_ “I care when the mother of our children is leaving in the middle of night with a duffel bag. I care when you when most of the caps in the safe are gone. So Michelle, where are you going?” _

_ Almost growling, Michelle turned around pointing her finger at him.  _

_ “Where I’m going is away from here! I didn’t ask to be stuck in bumfuck nowhere Samuel! Now I have to take care of not just one but two little brats?! While you gallivant around, helping people who don’t need it?! I’ll go insane if I stay here!” _

_ Samuel took a step forward, face tensing up into a pained expression. _

_ “I’m not gonna say taking care of kids is easy… but they are here in this world already. I can’t give up on them… but I also can’t act like you’ve been any good to them either. _

_ “Excuse me?” _

_ “Oh don’t act surprised! I may be out there doing my damn job so much for you to think I haven't noticed, but I’ve noticed. That girl is treated like dirt by you! I wanted to believe that maybe it was just some tough love, and you would act like the kind person you used to be. I feel awful for not intervening sooner but that won’t fix this. So if you want to leave, fine leave! But don’t think for a moment that you’ll leave with those caps or that you’ll be allowed back.” _

_ After a moment of intense staring between the two, a cloth bag is dropped to the ground. Caps spilled out as Michelle takes steps back towards the door. “Goodbye, Samuel,” she whispered, slamming the door right in his face. Sighing, Samuel looked down at the ground. _

_ “I know you’re there Piper. I’m sorry you had to see all that.” _

_ Little Piper let out a tiny gasp, opening the door further to run to her dad. Turning towards her, he leaned down to catch the girl and held her in a hug. Piper sniffles and cries into his shoulder. Barely audible she asked, “Is-is it my fault?” _

_ Samuel’s heart dropped at that. He held his girl tighter, shushing and cooing her to try and calm her down. “I promise you this is not your fault sweetie, I promise. I’m sorry she treated you so badly. I’ve should have made her leave years ago.” _

_ “‘S not your fault.” _

_ “Still, you won’t be treated like that anymore. It’ll be rough but now it’s just me, you and Nat.” He leaned down to look Piper in the eyes, “I need you to be a good big sister and help me with her okay?” _

_ Piper looked right back at him, eyes still teary but with a new resolve. _

_ “I promise.” _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

_ She kept that promise for all of her life, but after a bit her promise gained new meaning. Pete told Piper what has happened, with Mayburn looking away and looking annoyed. She glanced down at the old press hat in her hand, everything else becoming white noise to her. She thanked Pete for telling her, giving him a quick hug. Shutting the door on both men, she started to sob. The words finally reached her heart. _

_ “Your Dad is dead.” _

_ While she would have maybe stayed there for god knows how long sobbing, she heard Nat in the next room. “Sis?!”, she loudly blabbered out. Piper went to the room to see her sister up from her bed. Trying to keep a calm facade, she put the girl back on the bed and asked, “What’s wrong Darling?” _

_ “Why are you crying Sis?” _

_ Piper felt new tears pop up after being asked that. She sat on the bed, putting Nat on her lap. _

_ “Natalie, uh, dad is, he is no longer with us.” _

_ “Is he coming back?” _

_ Piper held her closer as she whispers out her response. _

_ “No, It’s gonna be just you and me for a bit. I promise to be a-a good big sister and protect you.” _

“Piper? Hey, Pipes are you okay?”

Piper blinked open her eyes, only to be face to face with Nora. Groggily, she yawned out, “Blue, what’s wrong?” before sitting up and stretching. Nora moves to sit in front of her, eyes filled with slight worry.

“You were mumbling in your sleep. It sounded like a nightmare kinda, uh, It’s fine if you don’t talk about it. I just wanna know if you’re okay.

This makes Piper remember what she was even dreaming about. Her mom leaving, her promise to her dad, and the news of him dying. Not really something that she wanted to pour all over Nora. Though she needed to one day, but it would be better if she…

“Nora, remember that thing I wanted to show you?”

Nora’s eyebrow raised at the question and at the reporter abruptly standing up. As Piper started to change back into her button up and jacket, she inquired, “Well yeah, what does it have to do with-”

“Just trust me on this Doll. Once I show you, you’ll get it.”

______________________________________________________________________________

The autumn leaves were flowing through the wind, the crunch the only sound as Piper and Nora walked behind the old Wright house. Nora looks at the reporter, wondering what was plaguing her mind. She knew about her Dad’s death of course but besides that, Piper barely talked about the time before that. Not that Nora wasn’t as guilty about trapping feelings as well. While Nora was wondering about what to say or ask her girlfriend, Piper takes an abrupt stop looking up a hill right in front of them. Specifically at the person right at the top. She moves her hand in front of Nora asking for her to stay there as she went up to the stranger. Wearing an overly large fur coat, the raven haired woman stood in front of the tombstone, smoking and barely noticing Piper. Barely, until she hears the crunch of leaves from near her. Looking up, the two share an intense eye contact. Piper’s face becomes angrier and angrier as she recognizes the woman.

“Hi, Michelle.”

Furrowing her brows, the woman takes a drag of the cigarette and removes it from her mouth. She lets out a dry laugh.

“Course you don’t have enough manner to call me Mom.”

“I think you lost that right years ago, don’t you?”

“Oh don’t pull that bullshit with me Piper! What do you want? Can’t a woman grieve in peace-”

Piper laughs at that, the scowl on her face becoming angrier. “Really you wanna talk about bullshit?! You aren’t fucking grieving! You act like you gave a single shit what happened to him!”

Throwing her cigarette down, Michelle faces Piper fully, sending a face that would make the faint-hearted shiver from fear.

“I’ve heard enough to know he died how I thought he would! Trying so hard to be a goody-two shoes instead of just accepting stuff as is!”

“He died doing more than you ever did! You could’ve even stay to take care of your damn kids-”

“I DIDN’T WANT TO BE A MOTHER!”, she shouted, stunning Piper into silence. She begins to rant at her.

“We were young and dumb and in ‘love’ and then I get pregnant! He was so excited but me?! I had to be stuck in this fucking place for 13 more years than I wanted. Then of course I get wasted as shit and get stuck with another kid?! I could have had a real life if I hadn’t met your father. I wasn’t made for dealing with brats every day of my damn life.”

Furious, Piper steps closer to Michelle. Her face is red from anger and tears.

“You made a mistake but that doesn’t mean you treat them like shit and then abandon them! Maybe if you acted like an adult instead of a whining little brat, life would have been better for you. You didn’t give a single shit about me or Nat so don’t give me a single fucking pity story! Now get the fuck away from here before I get even angrier.”

Stepping back Michelle was about to say a few more words, that is until she noticed the beanie wearing woman right behind Piper. Having two piercing glares thrown at her, Michelle turns away from the pair before saying one more thing.

“You know, you look just like him.”

Piper looks down as she tries to take deep breaths over and over again. She tenses slightly as a hand falls on her shoulder, until she realized who it was.

“I’m sorry you had to see that Blue, I usually don’t lose my control like that-”

“Hey no don’t apologize,” Nora goes to the front of Piper and holds her close, feeling the tenseness fall away from her muscles. “I’m proud of you for doing that. Confronting a parent… is not easy.”

Piper leans away from the hug to look at the tombstone in front of her, she lets out a watery chuckle as she says, “At least I can’t say that my girlfriend met both of the parents, right… Dad?”

Looking at the grave in front of them, Nora takes hold of Piper’s hand. The grip gets tighter and tighter as Piper falls to her knees. She cries harder than she has in years, with Nora holding her to her chest.

______________________________________________________________________________

Piper wakes up to two things. One is her girlfriend’s soft mumbling and two is the sound of pages being turned. Nora notices and brings her hand to Piper’s hair.

“Hey there sleepyhead, sorry if I woke you up.”

Piper nuzzles her head back into her girlfriend’s chest, almost falling back asleep from how comfortable she is. “It’s okay Blue… say how did I get here?” She questions, not remembering leaving her Dad’s grave.

“You kinda cried yourself to sleep Pipes," Nora sadly states, "I just took you back here so you could get some rest.”

Piper takes in the information and she looks around to see what Nora is reading.

“Hey, that’s the book I read as a kid.”

“Really? I just found it on the bookshelf and though it looked cool. Do you want me to put it back?”

Piper leans up to give Nora a kiss on the cheek. She lets out a small chuckle as she softly says, “You can keep reading Doll, I’ll even read with you.”

Both woman started to read the book together, all the problems of the day melting away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! I did it, I wrote a chapter more than 1k words! I also made myself super sad so don't be surprised if you see some fluff next time.


	5. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have a super soft confession fic fellas. Spoilers for endgame.

Sitting on her bed Nora stares into her glass of Nuka, thoughts going over the last few hours. The Institute, the source of most of the fear in the Commonwealth, completely destroyed. As much as she wanted to pretend that everything that happened was all a weird dream, she couldn’t. Of course outside of the makeshift house she made for herself (she couldn’t bare to live in her old house with all those memories), her companions were all drinking and laughing. Rightfully so as they had put so much effort and pain into all this. Yet here was Nora, staring at her glass as thoughts plagued her mind. Thoughts of Shaun and now the little synth boy she must meet at the Castle. Thoughts of moving from the past to live in this new home she found for herself. Thoughts of a certain red coat reporter she was in lo-

“Blue?”

She turns her gaze to said reporter, as she leans against the door with a shy expression. Piper walks up to sit next to her, a near empty beer in her hand.

“I didn’t see you outside, couldn’t help but get a little worried.”

Nora chuckles and blushes at that, giving her friend a dimpled smile. “I’m fine Pipes, just wanted to think for a bit.”

“I’m right here if you want to talk,” Piper said softly, her hand brushing against Nora’s. They share a tender look before they both look away blushing.

Nora stutters out, “Really, it’s nothing you haven’t heard before. Just about Shaun and the Institute… honestly I just wanna forget about it tonight and face the music tomorrow.” She takes a long gulp of her Nuka and puts it on the floor. Piper bites her lip as she thinks about her next move. She lets out a sigh and begins to speak.

“Remember what you told me, about Nat?”

Nora nods her head, trying to catch Piper’s nervous gaze.

“W-when you were gone, I went over what you said again and again in my head. And you were right. Life is too precious, what would happen if I never talked to her again!” She exclaims as her hands get more and more antsy. She breathes in shakily and softly continues on.

“Since I’ve been a reporter, people haven’t looked at me the same. I used to be a trusted confidant but then I was just the ‘nosy reporter’. The only people I could really rely on was Nat and Nick.”

Nora puts her hand over Piper’s, rubbing her thumb back and forwards. “You can always rely on me Piper, and don’t worry if you’re nosy. You’re my kind of nosy.”

Piper laughs at that, “You’re an exception, Blue. I know I can count on you. You’re not like everyone else.” Piper turns to look at Nora, giving her the gentlest look imaginable.

“I just want you to know that, I’m really grateful that you brought me along for the ride. Thank you... for being the friend I can count on.”

The same phrase rushes through Nora’s mind. ‘Tell her’ ‘Tell her’ ‘TELL HER’. The adrenaline from before fuels her as she takes a deep breath.

She stutters out, “W-what if I… want to be more than f-friends? 

Color rises quickly up Piper’s face. She stands up and begins to pace and stamper. Nora follows after about to blurt out an apology before she gets interrupted. 

“I’ll be, uh, lying if I said I never thought you that way- Not that I always thought about you that way!”

Piper takes a beat and looks at Nora, both of them blushing as red as her coat. She glances down, “Just… I’m loud an-and pushy. Why would someone like you ever want someone like me?”

That seem to be the thing that made Nora start to burst out everything she had been thinking about the reporter since they met.

“Piper don’t say that! You’re, gosh, you’re incredible! You’re so brave and outgoing and smart! Do you have flaws? Yeah I’ve seen them and you seen all of mine. You’re perfect for me Pipes, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you if I didn’t think all that!”

“Y-you love me?”

Absolute silence takes over them both, tension filling the air. Nora slams her hand over her face, it redder than before.

“Uh, I didn’t mean to say that now, ah um.”

“Blue...”

“It’s completely okay if you don’t feel that way!”

“Blue.”

“It’s completely fine if you don’t wanna speak of this again I’ll just go-“

“Nora!”

Piper takes hold of the hand covering Nora’s face, being closer to her than she was before. She pulls the hand into hers and lets both fall down. Nora refuses to look Piper in the eyes, her own grey ones looking at everything but her. She gently hold her chin, her lips trembling slightly. Finally, Piper leans forward for a mind-blowing kiss. Time seemed to have stopped for them both. All the memories of the past and worries of the future melted away. But just as quickly it started, it ended. Piper lays her hand on Nora’s shoulder, her head down as she tries to catch her breath. Almost inaudible, she whispers, “I love you too, Nora.”

After a couple of seconds, Piper squeaks in surprise as she is lifted up in the air and spun around. Nora laughs heartily in her shoulder, small tears slipping out.

“You really love me?! You love me!”

Giggling into her knitted cap, Piper wraps her arms around her Blue.

“Of course I love you, you dork.”

————————————————————

“Now, where are the caps I expected?”

Nick smugly grins at Cait and Hancock, both of whom were digging through their pockets for the caps owned.

“Shite, I thought that reporter gal had it in her, guess not,” Cait groans as she passes over the pouch to Nick. 

Hancock hands over his pouch, then crosses his arms with a grumpy expression on his face. “With how they were acting I was sure they wouldn’t even say shit. I shouldn’t have agreed to this bet.”

Nick puts the pouches in his jackets and chuckles, “You really shouldn’t have. Pleasure doing business with you both” 

He takes his leave, tipping his fedora first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Being on a trip, CLEARLY is the perfect time to write some gay fics. All this makes me want to do is rewatch some Piper scenes.


End file.
